| School drama that bares life's realities and thankfully gives us hope |
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| written by hneline1 |
December 24, 2002 - 3:49 PM PST |
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5 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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This series just keeps getting better and better. What impresses me about these episodes is that the stories flow into each other so well and the characters are so engaging. The tension between Tomoko Nomura, the not-so-bright but well-endowed girl, and her best friend Miyabi Aizawa, who abandons her after Tomoko messes up a prank, is believable and touching. Mr. Teshigawara's obsession with teacher Azusa Fuyutsuki is almost scary. And Hidemi Ohta, the girl who Teshigawara tutors, is ... well, you have to watch this disk to find out what her faults are.
The strength of this series is in the complexity and believability of the characters. This is a school drama that bares life's realities (differences in people's abilities, differences in people's interests, manipulative parents and teens and teachers, the power of gossip, bullying, crass behavior) and then thankfully gives us hope about human nature. I like the fact that there are no magical tricks or gimmicks here, only character-driven situations (of course accepting that Onizuka is an ex-gang leader and that he often provides comic relief). Also, I find it refreshing that the focus is not romance -- most non-action/SF dramas in anime are romantic (e.g. Love Hina, Kimagure Orange Road, Here is Greenwood) and other types of drama are few and far between (e.g. Grave of the Fireflies, Princess Nine, Perfect Blue) (at least, among those that cross over to the US).
Yeah, I've come to really like this series. I'll even admit that I got so wrapped up in these episodes I had tears in my eyes during one of Tomoko's scenes. ...Besides, how can I not like a show where one of the teachers says she wants an iMac and another proudly displays his new G3/400? :-) |
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